LUGANO, Switzerland, June 28, 2013 – The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management today paid tribute to Immediate Past Chair John Paluszek, who retires from the board on July 1st.

“The Global Alliance’s growth, profile and success today would not have been possible without the foundation built by John Paluszek in his term as our leader,” said Global Alliance chair Daniel Tisch at today’s meeting of the GA executive committee. “John worked tirelessly to extend our global reach, bring renewed relevance to the World Public Relations Forum, and give the GA a stronger voice on standards, sustainability and integrated reporting. If we stand tall today, it’s on the shoulders of leaders such as John.”

John Paluszek’s service to the public relations profession includes many key roles:

Chair of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 1989;

Member of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications;

Member of the Commission on Public Relations Education;

Liaison to the United Nations for both the Global Alliance and for the Public Relations Society of America;

Member of the Working Group for the International Integrated Reporting Framework

Chair of the Global Alliance from 2009-2011; and

Senior Counsel at Ketchum (New York and Washington D.C.) specializing in reputation management and corporate responsibility.

Paluszek has received a number of professional awards, most recently PRSA's 2010 Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement in International Public Relations. A former journalist, John has written many commentaries for business and academic journals such as the Journal of the Public Affairs Council and Journalism Studies.

“John became Global Alliance chair at a critical time in our history, and his leadership made a critical difference,” said GA incoming chair Anne Gregory. “John’s service continued after his term as chair, with his leadership of the GA’s acclaimed study on excellence in corporate communication, and his role representing the GA on the Commission on Public Relations Education and other standard-setting bodies. The newly elected board looks forward to John’s continued counsel in the years to come.”